Welcome back to books! Some of the more virtual worldly readers out there might recognize that opening slogan from Tim Rogers Kotaku Reviews. This is mainly because I watch a video of his before I write my reviews, because I think his reviews are so interesting and cool. If you think that's stealing, SORRY! Thanks Tim!
Osamu Dazai's book is morbidly fascinating. I know a number of people that are a lot like main character Oba Yozo, and as the editors remark, what did I do to deserve this? Now, you might be thinking: this is one of the most popular books in Japan, how could you say that? Well, how would you feel if a number of the people you are most intimately familiar with are or have been near-soulless alcoholics and drug abusers who in their prime look(ed) like Demon Souls monsters? And not even the cool ones! Yes, Oba Yozo is a Really Cool Heroin Addict From Japan. And despite the author's semi-autobiographical attempt to paint the supporting characters in his narrative as complicated, unknowable, empty human beings who make the world a horrible place, I can tell you from experience that Yozo is a typical asshole badass and normies aren't that bad.
It is really easy for people who have never known someone like Yozo to look at this book as the typical story of a young man adrift in post-modern society (the back cover heroically uses that choicest of buzzwords), the starving crippled artist shackled by the chains of despair and corruption. Its easy to look at quotes like: "everything passes"; "life is a burning flame and men are it's ashes"; "I had lost even the ability to suffer"; "I don't think I have ever truly loved another human being"; "love flies out the window when poverty enters the door"; etc., and think "wow, so deep!". Is it deep? Is it really that hard to come up with some hopeless aphorisms and throw them together with a dash of drug use, prostitution, underbelly behavior and call it a novel? Well, I made some of those quotes up, and you probably couldn't even tell. And if you did tell, I would wager you don't really buy into the "depression as art" narrative either.
I know a few people who went to the grave in this lifestyle, more who almost did, and I know a great deal who are still heading that way. So let's talk about a few of the things that Yozo does in these pages. He puts up a constant front to everyone he meets, befriends people for the sole purpose of concealing his lie, leads women on, completely fakes an interest in Marxism to be cool, drops out of college, abuses heroin and alcohol, fakes more friendships, estranges his family, abuses the friendship and love of women and even helps a woman he loves commit suicide by drowning in the ocean. He doesn't do anything to help anyone in the entire novel, but instead uses the people around him to get what he wants based on moment-to-moment impulses. In short, he is an insanely bad person.
For all this, he manages to critique "society" and the people around them as if they are hardly more than animals, either by insulting their intelligence, helping them literally kill themselves, or otherwise abusing their kindness. For all the times he complains about his drinking buddy, he doesn't spend a single word to thank him for years of friendship. He begs his family for money, emotionally manipulates a crippled person to obtain morphine, and doesn't even know when his father dies. The closest thing he does to a kindness to anyone is leaving a woman he doesn't want to hurt, but he only does this out of shame. No Longer Human reads like a perverted Crime and Punishment, one without salvation and without any meaningful recognition of the "protagonists" own depravity. Raskolnikov is a much better person, even if his actions are more depraved, if only for the fact that he struggles with his humanity rather than ignoring or discarding it.
Now, lets talk for a second about the overall significance of this work and whatever meaning we can take from it. The title "No Longer Human" is an interesting and provocative place to start. I think there is an impulse to take this book as the recollections of a man who has been stripped of his humanity by a cold, unreasonable world that doesn't make sense and seeks to harm people. Certainly this feels relatable, right? We all know that people do a lot of messed up stuff, a lot of people are nothing but empty shells and our emotional reaction to the ever-present evil in the world can make us callous drinkers and drug addicts who cannot fit in or understand the human world. This is the generous interpretation of this book, and it fits squarely within the "depression/alienation as art" narrative. Readers might see in Yozo a reflection of their own negative feelings about society, and even go so far as to identify with his struggles.
I would ask yourself if you seriously believe that. I think the more realistic interpretation of this book is that Yozo is no longer human because of his utter refusal, not his inability, to improve himself or take into account the feelings of the people around him. How many times in this book do you hear him discussing how people actually feel? Yes, there is the moment where he leaves his girlfriend out of pity for her, but that was only after disappearing in a drunken binge. Yes, there is the discussion about his semi-admiration for his wife's trusting nature. Yes, there is the part where he says he loves the woman he helped kill. But outside of that, he mocks and degrades basically everyone around him, including those who stick around him and help him throughout the narrative. His is no longer human through his own fault. He doesn't lose the ability to suffer, nor does he lose the ability to understand the people around him. He never even tries.
To me, Yozo is the typical kind of self absorbed drug addict who blames everyone and everything around him for his situation while at the same time managing to retain an egotistical disdain for "society", his family, and his friends. He never takes a hard look at himself, hold himself accountable for any of his actions, or humbly accept the help of others. He even blames them for his misunderstanding them. While a character like Flatfish might be a liar, or Hiriki a faker, Yozo is a leech and a drain on everyone around him. Which one is worse to you?
Now, I say all of this not to disparage the author or the work, but rather what I take to be the message and the reception of this novel. I read this book in only two sittings because I couldn't put it down. I found No Longer Human insightful, and I felt like it offered me insight into lives of many of the people I have known throughout my life. That said, I am critical of the idea that Yozo is a victim, or to be pitied, or even relatable. He makes victims of the people around him by acting impulsively and selfishly, negatively impacting the lives of almost every character in this book without feeling anything or even taking the time to think about it. I have never enjoyed the company of the feeble-hearted, mixed-up people who treated me like that.
I think you should read this book, but read it as if you were a character in this book. In fact, read it as if you were him. Wouldn't you try to change?